FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Crews across South Florida are cleaning up after Hurricane Helene, and on the Treasure Coast, public works crews spent Friday picking up branches, debris, and assessing damage.
While the hurricane didn't make landfall in our area, powerful cells brought sheets of rain, mighty wind and wrathful waves, the latter of which had quite the impact.
"I mean the waves were just really, really big," said Erica Lemaster of Fort Pierce.
Lemaster and her family of four came back out to the Fort Pierce Jetty after seeing the wind and waves crash against the rocks Thursday.
Video shared with WPTV by the SLCscanner page on Facebook showed the angry waves crashing violently over the jetty's walkway.
"The sand was just blowing everywhere," said Lemaster. "The rip currents and stuff, it was scary."
"Crazy!" added her 6-year-old daughter, Mila.
It wasn't long after the Lemasters left the jetty Thursday that St. Lucie County Fire Rescue pulled a mother and her daughter from those same waters, taking them to the hospital.
Crews told WPTV's Kate Hussey the child was playing on the jetty and fell into the water, and that her mother jumped in after to save her from Mother Nature's muscle.
"Any mother would, yeah," said Lemaster.
WATCH: Big Bend residents begin cleanup after Hurricane Helene
"Definitely dangerous conditions, flying red flags yesterday," Martin County's Ocean Rescue Chief Ian Montgelas said.
Mongelas said he saw up to 6-foot waves and multiple rip currents as Helene moved across Florida Thursday, and said his crews were out warning beach-goers of the double red flag warning.
"Definitely, really important to heed the warnings," said Montgelas. "For us, we do as much education as we can to let people know its dangerous to go in the water. If it's severe weather, you guys got to leave the area."
Those same strong swells swept ashore an unexpected surprise at the Jetty, as Fort Pierce Police Detective Kaycee Davis, collected a 2 kilogram block of marijuana.
"The storm coming out, it does bring a lot of debris on shore," said Davis.
Currently, Fort Pierce police are investigating, and Davis said the drugs, which appear to have been in the ocean for quite some time, didn't come with any markings on the packaging.
That same strong surf that washed items ashore in St. Lucie County took away from Indian River County, as Coastal Resource Manager Quintin Bergman showed us the erosion Helene left behind.
"It's about two to three feet high," said Bergman. “This is exactly what we expected to see."
Bergman said despite the normal erosion, Helene left the county's newly restored sand dunes relatively untouched, and that was the county's biggest concern.
"I've been here for Dorian, Nicole, Ian— those storms were much more damaging. Helene, we got lucky," said Bergman.
If luck also spared the Lemaster's home from wind and waves, the family of four said they don't take it likely.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe that it kind of affected this whole area as well, and it's still windy today," said Lemaster. "Pretty crazy!"
"Mother Nature still has an attitude!" said Hussey.
"She does!" agreed Lemaster.
Martin County spokesperson Martha Ann Kneiss said Martin County was also spared of much erosion, and told Hussey the dunes protected the surrounding infrastructure.
Montgelas said ocean rescue crews did not respond to any water rescues in Martin County, and WPTV saw yellow flags flying at beaches across the Treasure Coast on Friday.
WPTV's continuing coverage on Helene:
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